Lunch-counter



(No Model.)

H. KNUDSEN. LUNCH GQUNTER.

10.577,688. Y Patented Peb. 23, 189V.

l* o 30 i,

mun-ulm" 1| mnu n l' l I 'l HANS KNUDSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LUNCH-COUNTER SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,688, dated February 23, 1897.

Application filed March 11,1896. Serial No. 582,730. (No model.)

TOMU, whom llt ni/roy concer/L:

Be it known that I, HANS KNUDSEN, of Bosl ton, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented au Improvement in Lunch-Counters, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters ou the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to so-called self-waitin g tables, the object being to provide a table, or especially a lunch-counter, in which the servicesof attendants may be dispensed with.

The invention is especially intended for use in connection with public lunch-counters, and relates to the means for forwarding articles ordered to the customer from the kitchen.

In carrying` out the invention the table or counter is provided with an endless conveyerbelt which may be continuously driven by power or intermittingly by hand, and the articles of food are forwarded upon trays adapted to be placed upon the surface of the table and moved along the saine by said conveyerbelt, which is so arranged that the tray, when placed in proper position, will be engaged thereby, but not permanently attached thereto, whereby said'tray may be removed therefrom at any point in the travel thereof by simply lifting it from the table, the said table being preferably provided with a shelf or bracket or similar means for securing the tray in front of the customer, where it may remain without interfering with the subsequent operation of the apparatus until the customer has finished. The tray can then be returned by placing it on the table in proper position to engage the conveyer-belt, which will carry it along to that part of the table where articles are provided, and it can then be lifted off by the attendant and held until it is desired to forward it with another ord er.

Figure l is a top plan view of a lunch-counter embodying the present invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section of the same, showing the conveyer-belt in elevation; Fig. 8, a transverse vertical section, and Fig. a a detail showing the preferred means for guiding and supporting the conveyor-belt.

The table a consists of a counter or shelf preferably having the main portion d2 of its surface at a somewhat lower level than that leys b2, mounted on shafts b3, one or both of said shafts being adapted to be rotated either continu ously,as by a motor, or intermittingly, if desired, by a crank operated from the point at which the food is supplied.

One end of the lunch-counter may, for example, be extended through a partition dividing the dining-room or caf from the kitchen and the conveyer belt operated from the kitchen.

The pulleys b2 are provided with flanges or shoulders b4, upon which the lower edge of the belt is supported at its ends, the said belt also being preferably provided with additional supports'at intervals along its length, which supports may consist, as shown in Fig. 4, of a horizontal pulley be, upon which the lower edge of the belt runs, and two vertical pulleys b?, one bearing on each side of the belt to keep it centered to prevent its slipping off fom the surface of the supporting-pulley 6.

In order that the trays or waiters c, upon which the articles of food are to be conveyed from the kitchen tothe caf, may be moved along the surface a2 by the conveyer-belt, the said conveyer-belt is provided on its upper surface with engaging shoulders 58, extending upward through a groove in the main portion a2 of the table, and the said trays c are provided with downwardly-extendin g jaws c2, adapted to extend across the sides of the belt, so that the engaging shoulders bs will engage the crotch portion of the forked downward extensions c2, it being only necessary, however, to lift the said tray from the table in order to detach it from the conveyer.

In order to determine the destination of a tray, a number of such trays are provided, each bearing, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, a number or distinguishing-mark c3, and each space in front of a seat at the counter is designated by a corresponding distinguishingmark, (indicated at a30,) the said marks L30 being preferably secured to tags or signs supported upon the central partition a3. If, for example, a customer sits at the seat designated by IOO the number l at the table, his order will be forwarded to him on the traynurnloer l, and when the tray bearing the said number reaches him he will observe the same and lift it from the table, retaining it, together with the articles forwarded upon it; and for convenience means are provided for retaining said tray out of the Way both of the customer and of the belt, as, for example, by a suitable support therefor.

As herein shown, each tray is provided with eyeholes c4, (see Fig. 2,) adapted to cooperate with hooks c5 upon the central partition a3, so that the tray when lifted from the conveyer may be hung upon said hooks, thus projecting out from the said partition toward the customer, rendering the articles upon the said tray easily accessible and readily removed therefrom to a plate upon the raised edge portion a, while the tray itself is above the line of travel of other trays and will not interfere therewith.

The trays are provided with wheels or rollers c6, adapted to run along the depressed portion a2 of the counter, the opposite end of the said tray being supported by the conveyer-belt in congunction with the forked extension c2, by which the trays are connected to the said conveyer-belt.

The conveyer-belt may, as has been stated, be operated continuously by means of a slowly-moving motor, in which event the customer will observe the tray bearing his number as it passes him, lift it from the conveyerbelt, and hang it up; or, if desired, one of the pulleys may be driven by a crank operated from the kitchen, it being practicable in this case to provide a scale of some kind whereby the person operating said pulley can determine when the tray forwarded by him has reached its destination without necessarily observing the movement thereof along the counter or table, which might be a Inatter of some difficulty if the table were of considerable length.

The central partition d3 is obviously not essential to the proper workin g of the device, it being preferably pro vided, however, to add to the appearance of the table and to serve as a support for the trays, as has been described, as well as for castors containing condiments, which may be supported from the top of said partition at intervals along the counter. The articles supported in this way are readily accessible and at the same time will not interfere with the Working of the apparatus or with the convenience of the customer.

It is not intended to limit the invention to the specific construction herein shown and described, since modiiications might obviously be made.

I claiml. The combination with a table or counter, of an endless slot in the surface thereof, a conveyer-belt having a notched or serrated edge extending through said slot, pulleys for said belt mounted on vertical shafts below the table, stationary supports for the lower edge of said belt secured to the under side of the table below said slot, and traveling trays adapted to travel along the surface of the table and to be engaged by said conveyer-belt when placed over the same, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a lunch-counter, of an endless slot extending along substantially parallel to the periphery thereof, a belt supported edgewise below the table, engaging shoulders along the edge of said belt projecting upward through said slots, and trays having supporting-wheels adapted to travel on the surface of the table and provided with a forked downward extension adapted to engage said shoulders, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the table or counter provided with a slot through the surface thereof, of a conveyer-belt carried by pulleys below the' table and extending edgewise through said slot and provided With shoulders along its upper edge, a central wall eX- tending upward from the surface of the table and adapted to support castors and the like, a series of distinguishing -marks arranged at proper intervals alon the said wall, traveling trays each having a distinguishing- `mark corresponding to one of said marks on the wall and adapted to be engaged by said conveyer-belt when placed on the surface of the table over the same, and means for securing said trays to the said wall, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HANS KNUDSEN.

Witnesses:

H. J. LIVERMORE, NANCY P. FORD.

IUS 

